Tuesday, March 06, 2007

"He Had a Reason to Get Back to Lake Charles"

I've been waiting almost two years to quote my favorite Lucinda Williams song again. Little could anyone have imagined it'd pan out so literally.

Then again, that's the Holy Spirit for you... or just a Williams fan in a high place -- take your pick.

Said personal goal (finally) put to bed, lest anyone forget so soon, there was another appointment in the morning drop -- one the people of southwest Louisiana, still in recovery following the damage from 2005's Hurricane Rita, have been downright chomping at the bit for.

After an interregnum that'll surpass the two-year mark next week, Bishop-elect Glen John Provost will be ordained and installed as the third bishop of Lake Charles on 23 April in the diocese's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Ordained to the priesthood for the diocese of Lafayette by Pope Paul VI in 1975, also in the class was a cleric ordained for the diocese of LaCrosse, now Archbishop Raymond Burke of St Louis.

Thing is, the new bishop really is getting back to Lake Charles -- before the city's 1980 foundation as a diocesan seat in its own right, it was his first assignment. With the appointment, he said, "I sense that the circle is complete."

The post will offer “unfamiliar challenges,” Provost said. “I realize it is the work of Christ, the High Priest, and place it all in his loving hands. God’s providence is mysterious and marvelous.”

Provost said after the 10 a.m. press conference Vatican officials notified him of the promotion three weeks ago. However, he was not allowed to say anything until the pope made the official announcement.

For what little we know of the bishop-elect, looks like he's already got the biretta part down.

About Me

One of global Catholicism's most prominent chroniclers, Rocco Palmo has held court as the "Church Whisperer" since 2004, when the pages you're reading were launched with an audience of three, grown since by nothing but word of mouth, and kept alive throughout solely by means of reader support.

A former US correspondent for the London-based international Catholic weekly The Tablet, he's been a church analyst for The New York Times, Associated Press, Washington Post, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, BBC, NBC, CNN and NPR among other mainstream print and broadcast outlets worldwide.

A native of Philadelphia, Rocco Palmo attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. In 2010, he received a Doctorate of Humane Letters honoris causa from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St Louis.

In 2011, Palmo co-chaired the first Vatican conference on social media, convened by the Pontifical Councils for Culture and Social Communications. By appointment of Archbishop Charles Chaput OFM Cap., he's likewise served on the first-ever Pastoral Council of the Archdiocese, whose Church remains his home.